With her Padma Shri, Priyanka Chopra now falls into the league of her Bollywood colleagues including Shah Rukh Khan and Aamir Khan but the actress says the honour is more special for her because she bagged it with Tamil superstar Rajinikanth.
The 33-year-old former Miss World was today awarded the India's fourth highest civilian honour by President Pranab Mukherjee while Rajinikanth received the Padma Vibhushan here at a ceremony at the Rashtrapati Bhawan.
"I was very excited to get my Padma Shri with Rajinikanth sir. He was getting the Padma Vibhushan but we were in the same room and that was really exciting for me as I am his huge fan," Priyanka told PTI after getting the award.
"He is such a big legend in the field of cinema. To watch him right in front of me being honoured by the President, that was exciting for me."
The internationally renowned actress, thanks to her stint in "Quantico" as FBI agent Alex Parrish, flew down to India for a day from the shoot of the second season of TV series in Los Angeles to receive the honour.
"They are not shooting for one day. I requested them to shoot in weekend and my entire cast agreed to do it. They know how important the honour is for me. 'Quantico' really made it happen with their schedules. It airs every Sunday, so they can't stop shooting..."
Priyanka's parents served as physicians in the Indian Army and the actress said she values the honour due to her defence background.
"Being from the defence background, I value this award more. My father would have been happy and proud today. My uncle was with me while I was receiving the honour. He was there in his uniform with all his medals shining."
Dressed in a lime yellow Banarasi saree, the "Mary Kom" star said she loves Indian craft.
Priyanka ventured into Bollywood in 2003 with the film "The Hero: Love Story of a Spy" and subsequently made her name in the industry with films like "Aitraaz", "Fashion", "Saath Khoon Maaf", "Barfi!" and the latest "Bajirao Mastani".
She will also be seen in Hollwood film "Baywatch" opposite Dwayne Johnson and Zac Efron and zeroing in on few Bollywood scripts as well.
